Prestigious Lies
by AquaPurpleBubble
Summary: AU. Ichigo finds himself in deep trouble with no money to buy himself out of it. However, Byakuya is willing to pay it for him. For what though? Who ever said love was priceless? IchiRuki. Read and Review.
1. Ever Heard Of Honor?

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A/N: I thought it would be fun to try more stories! YAY! This one is obviously AU, but people will still be in character, just moved around to wherever I want them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, or the song I use.

* * *

The world's got a funny way of turning 'round on you  
When a friend tries to stab you right in the face  
Losing faith in everything I thought I hoped I knew  
Don't sweat it, it's set on false pretense

-The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (False Pretense)

* * *

**Prestigious Lies**

**Chapter One: Ever heard of Honor?**

* * *

"Rukia," Byakuya's stern voice rang out from his study, beckoning for the raven-haired girl to enter.

"Yes, Nii-sama?" She appeared in the mahagony wood doorway of his private office dressed casually in a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt.

"Sit down." He pointed to the seat on the other side of his desk, barely taking his eyes off a day planner set in front of him. "There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Okay," she said as she dropped into the cushy seat. Her mind was racing, wondering what she'd done wrong this time. She thought back through the week: her grades were okay, she hadn't talked back to any of the teachers, all her chores had been finished, she hadn't broken her curfew; she couldn't think of anything that he would "need to talk to her about."

Byakuya looked up and noticed her anxiousness, he slightly chuckled to himself; scaring Rukia even more. "There's no need to be nervous. I just wanted to talk to you." By saying the words, Byakuya had intended for Rukia to calm down, but they only put her more on edge.

"Sure," She said, eyeing him warily. 'Huh? This is even worse than getting in troubel. He never just wants to talk.'

"So, how is school going?" He leaned back in his chair, an indescribable look on his face.

"Uh, good, I guess..." Rukia trailed off, still trying to see where this was all going.

"That's good." He commented lightly. Rukia nodded her head and folded her legs underneath her, settling into the big seat- it didn't seem like he was going to cut o the chase any time soon.

"And your friends? Are they well?"

"Yeah, they're fine..." She breifly thought of just asking what it was he wanted,but she decided against it, she didn't want to upset him.

"How's...Renji? That was the name of the Abarai kid right?"

"Uh yeah. He's fine, too-" Rukia stared at her brother in disbelief. It was a rare occasion for him to actually talk to her, and him remembering they name of one of her best friends was just too much.

"Hmm... Thats's good to hear." He added then dropped the bomb. "So, who are you dating these days?"

"Uh...wait, what?!" She leaned forward, not believing her ears. "Wasn't it just last year that you told me I couldn't date 'til I was 32?!"

Byakuya remained calm and composed as he replied. "I didn't thnk you'd actually listen to me, I'd hoped you would but I know how young teenagers are. With all those hormones raging..."

"Oh." She sat back in the seat although she was still confused. "Well, I'm not dating anyone."

"Well, why not?" He actually sounded dissappointed.

Rukia paused, taking it all into consideration, she figured she might as well as answer the questions, it was her safest bet to getting out of here. "I don't know- I guess I was obeying your rules and plus, I don't really like anyone that way."

As he pondered her answer, Rukia did so, too. It was really true. While she had found herself slightly envious of Orihime's many boyfriends, she also saw how each of her friend's relationships ended: horribly. Rukia was always the one to help her get over them, even if once Orihime was better she always went running into another guys' arms. From her third person observations, Rukia knew she didn't want to have that. It was hard enough to have to listen to it, she didn't want to actually go through it. Then again, it wasn't like Rukia, herself was a hermit. Many boys, many, had asked her out. She just never found them interesting enough to waste her time on. Besides, she already had all her friends, they were close enough as it was.

After a while, Byakuya began to talk again, "Rukia, I just don't want you to end up alone." He looked her in the eye, giving their conversation a feel of great importance. "You're already a junior- things are going to start moving quickly. Soon, you'll be in college, then you have to work for a living yourself, It'll all be overwhelming. THen when everything begins to die down, you will finally realize how alone you are and I don't want you to have to go through that. So, just think about it, but I would appreciate it if you started to date." He paused again, smiling once he realized how that sounded. "Now, you are dissmissed. You may go to bed." Just like that, his cold exterior was back, the breif show of emotions was put back in storage.

"Yes Nii-sama, good night." She replied, then got up to get ready for bed. She slowly walked up the staircase, letting her hand brush along the smooth oak of the banister. how she wished to be a little kid again. To slide down the soft wood, with no worries. Rukia smiled wistfully, to think, she was getting stressed by the thought of dating. Ha.

* * *

That same night, but on the other side of town:

"Dude, let's get out of here. This party sucks." Ichigo took another swig from his cup of warm beer, then winced. Why was he even drinking it? Oh, yeah, so he could drown out his worries and try to forget about being dumped. It also didn't hurt that it was making this party seem a little bit more bearable.

"Man, C'mon..." Ishida whined, he glanced over at the fruity girl who was standing not too far away.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever. but I'm leaving, I'll catch you later." He found himself unsurprised that his friend hadn't wanted to leave. Even if this was one of the worst parties in the upper side of Karakura town. Ishida wasn't too popular with the ladies and now that he had found one that had shone mild interest in him, he wasn't about to let her go.

Ichigo had understood but still didn't approve, at least not of the girl. She was busty with burnt orange hair and these two clips in her hair that seemed to move (although, maybe it was just the alcohol). She looked like she was fast, only Ichigo hadn't told his friend that. He thought he would just let him learn the lesson himself, and hell, he would at least be getting his first girlfriend out of the exchange. That was, of course, if Ishida even manned up enough to talk to her.

The Orange haired teen walked along the sidewalk, scuffing his Adidas on the cement, pouring the beer along with it. He tried to think about anything but what had happened that day at lunch and after his thoughts kept coming back to it, he rethought his actions and dumped the rest of the beverage down his throat, tossing the cup somewhere on the road.

Ugh, he just couldn't shake the look on Tatsuki's face, she looked mad and slightly hurt. He didn't know why, he hadn't done a damn thing to her. He was the one who should be mad; she practically announced to the whole school that she was dumping him, she made it such a big deal. Then the rest of the day, she kept glaring at him, like it was his fault it had happened. She somehow got the entire nation of girls to do so, too.

He just didn't get it. It had been so sudden, things had been going smoothly. They hardly ever fought and they were always open to each other... none of it made sense. That morning she had been acting weird, avoiding him. Then she just starts screaming in his face at lunch. Then it was over; Five months of only one girl and it was over.

Thinking back, if it hadn't been for Ishida, they'd have never gotten together. They were always friends and nothing more until Uryu had made them start to spend more time with each other. Then one time when they were studying together at Ichigo's house he kissed her. He hadn't known what had possessed him to do such a thing and had expected her to be offended. Only, she responded with a kiss back. It was the kiss that started their relationship. It was also the kiss that had been interrupted by Isshin, much to their embarrasment.

But now, it was all over, and he didn't even remember the last kiss. It was quite sad, actually, he had been drunk, of course. It was a party thrown by Hisagi, one of Ichigo's good friends, the night before. If he remembered correctly, both Ichigo and Tatsuki were just a tad bit wasted, and some things had gone on that Ichigo wished he had been aware of, at least he thought. That was one of his theories as to why she had dumped him, maybe he had said or done something that had made her mad; he really didn't remember. That theory and the one where her 'girlfriends' had talked her into breaking up with him were the main suspects.

Suddenly, Ichigo just felt so mad. He wanted to hurt something. She wouldn't even talk to him now. He realized he had not only lost his girlfriend but also one of his best friends. It all felt so fucked up. He could only assume the beer wasn't helping his emotions.

Looking around, he took in his surroundings, noticing he was close to Tatsuki's house. He broke into a run, a branch hung in front of his face and he violently thrust it aside. He was pissed, now. The light was on in Tatsuki's room, the curtains were closed in the window on the second floor. He craned his neck to look up, he could see her siloute inside the room and another one?

Rage boiled inside of him, he didn't even consider the fact that it might be another girl, and picked up a rock. Not a small pebble like the one's he used to throw at her window to catch her attention late at night, but a big, sturdy one. He juggled the rock, weighing it in his hand, enjoying the rush he was getting. Finally, he threw it up, aiming straight for the window. A satisfied smirk pushed his lips up when he heard the loud crack, a few screams and the breaking of something metalic.

He looked up and saw the gaping hole it left in the window, then a head poked throught it. "What the fuck, Ichigo? Are you insane?" Tatsuki screamed at him.

"Maybe," he said, still enjoying this.

"You ass!" She screamed at him again. Another light went on in the living room and Tatsuki's dad came out the front door.

'uh-oh' that wasn't expected. Ichigo broke into a run again, exhilerated. He kicked at trashcans, spreading gobs of trash all over the road and lawns; he indented bumpers and knocked review mirrors off cars parked on the streets; he ran like crazy with a hysterical smile on his face the whole time. Dogs barked, lights flashed on in homes, everything felt so euphoric until he saw the signature red and blue lights flickered from behind him.

Shit. He had somehow overlooked the fact that what he was doing had to be illegal. He was in trouble, he had to get away. He broke into a sprint. Another car came around to the front and stopped, a man got out. Ichigo had to stop. The cop was at him quickly, his arms were roughly pulled back, he was jerked around, then he found himself sitting in the back of a police car. Men were around him talking into little walkie-talkies that hung on the lapel of theri shirts. People came out from their homes dressed in lounge-wear. Oh, he was so going to be in trouble. He might not be able to pay himself out of this mess.

* * *

Rukia awoke, got dressed, did everything slowly and deliberately, not too excited for breakfast with Byakuya.

Finally when there was nothing else to primp or comb, Rukia had to push herself down the stairs, the time had come.

"Good Morning." Byakuya greeted her, sipping his black coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Yes. Good Morning." Rukia replied, slipping two peices of bread into the toaster, she wasn't about to sit through a whole meal with her brother. She got a glass down from the cupboard and grabbed the freshly squezzed orange juice, pouring herself some. She gulped it down while still trying to be polite. The buzz went off on the machine and she grabbed the two peices of toast and quietly spread strawberry jam all over them.

Her brother looked up as she walked past him with the two peices in hand with a paper towel. "Is that all you're having?"

"Uh. yeah. I'm kinda running late, so I decided to keep it light." She lied.

"okay, well have a good day, I won't be back 'til late tonight. I was called this morning about some kid who went crazy last night. they said he was having an emergency court appearance today, so I'll be busy with that."He informed her as she slipped her arms throught the slots on her bag.

"Okay, then I'll just have dinner by myself and I won't wait up. So, bye."Rukia said, and as she was halfway out the door, Byakuya called her back again.

"Oh, Rukia?"

"Yes?" she squeeked.

"Don't forget to find a date." He said and she forced a smile in return. Then she was out the door and into the car that had been waiting for her.

"God, I've been sufforcating in this car for, like, 30 minutes. What took you so long?" Rukia smiled at her friend, knowing she was kidding.

"Sorry, gosh, I tried to hurry. It's just my brother kept nagging me." Rukia looked at the driver who only politely smiled back through the mirror, then back to Orihime.

"Oh no it's fine!" Orhime laughed lightly then became trained on a subject. "Oh my god, you will never believe what happened last night."

Rukia rolled her eyes, she'd bet her college fund it had something to do with a guy. But she inquired about it non the less.

"I met a guy." big surprise. "Don't give me that look, I think this one actually has some potential."

"You said that about the last one." Rukia pointed out but Orihime just dissmissed it with a wave of her hand.

"No, I did not. I said the last one was nice." Inoue corrected. "Anyways, back to the subject. He's really nice, good looking, he likes me for more than just... you know?" At this point her friend pointed to her chest and Rukia surpressed a laugh. "You know the best part?" Orhime gushed, only without letting Rukia ask what. "He goes to our school!" SHe exclaimed. "I just don't know how I missed him all this time."

"You do know there's a lot of people at our school, right? There's bound to be at least fifty guys you haven't kissed." Rukia joked earning a playful slap from Orihime. "Hey, where did you meet this guy anyways? Don't tell me an internet dating site. You could really just be leading on some creepy old guy."

"Eww!" Orhime admonished. "Of course not! You know I learned my lesson there! I met him at this party last night. You know, Rukia, you really should start to go to more parties with me. Maybe you'll meet someone yourself..." Orhime winked.

Rukia sighed. "Maybe I will. Byakuya called me into his office last night to tell me that I needed to start dating. So, I guess i will..." Rukia trailed off, looking outside.

"Omigod! Rukia this is awesome! You totally have to! And there's going to be this awesome party on Saturday night! We so have to go!" Rukia nodded her head, although Orhime was still far more enthusiastic than her, though she didn't notice. Her busty friend was too busy already planning their outfits.

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A/N: How did youlike it? tell me, through reviews of course! Rukia may be less outgoing as usual but she will still be defiant! and Ichigo is a bad, bad boy! lol. Oh, and Orihime is slick with the guys, kinda ooc, but i can mold her better..I enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it too! This was kinda just a setter upper, the plot will thicken withen the next chapter or so... I'm excited. I really actually planned this one out! So review, please! Muah! Love, AquaPurpleBubble


	2. Is This What Hell Feels Like?

A/N: Hello! I am happy that you guys like my story so far! I'm excited to write more! YAY! lol.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters, nor do I own the songs I use in any of my chapters.

**

* * *

****Prestigious Lies**

**Chapter Two:** **Is this what Hell Feels Like?**

* * *

Cause I'm in too deep, and I'm tryng to keep  
Up above in my head, instead of going under  
Cause I'm in too deep, and I'm trying to keep  
Up above in my head, instead of going under  
Instead of going under

-Sum 41 (In Too Deep)

* * *

Lunchtime

"Oh my gosh!" Orihime turned to Rukia holding some peice of unidentifiable food. Rukia wrinkled her nose, ew. "Did you hear about that one guy?"

"What one guy?" Rukia asked, looking down at her own bento box, not really interested. She only asked to be nice to her friend.

Orihime looked at her like she was crazy. "You don't know about it?"

Rukia laughed at her friends intensity. "I guess not."

"Oh, well, now you will. I'll tell you all about it." Rukia nodded her head for Inoue to go on, which she did in an almost hyperactive voice. "So, remember yesterday during lunch, all the noise and stuff outside? Where all the 'popular' people sit?" Orihime used little air quotes around 'popular', showing how much she hated how schools divided themselves into little monacharies.

"Yeah, I think." Rukia remembered the shouting, although she had just laughed it off. Her friends had all joked around saying it was because one of them broke a nail or something.

"Well, anyways, Today in J-history, I was passing notes to Tatsuki. We were just talking about boring stuff, you know how that class sucks. so then, somehow we got on to a different convo and she told me about her ex, Ichigo. remember him? He always makes fun of you, calls you migdet?" Inoue fished and caught Rukia glaring at her in response. She hated that guy. He was just one of the selfish guys with money who's intellect was only limited to the guides of partying.

Inoue recognized Rukia's glare as a 'yes, she remembered' and continued on. "So, anyways, I guess she dumped him yesterday and that's what all the noise was from. She wouldn't tell me why she dumped him but I think it has something to do with me, you know? Like that one night at that other party, he was really flirting with me... but anyways," Orihime had trailed off, noticing Rukia's dissapproving look. "So, last night he got all crazy and shit and like totally broke her window and was just destoying everything in sight. So, now he's like in mega trouble with the law, and he's in court now, I think." Orihime summed up her story and Rukia remembered hearing something about that now.

"Hey, I think my brother's on that case.I remember him telling me something about that this morning. Interesting." Rukia commented.

"No way? You should totally talk your brother into like sending him to jail." Orihime said. "I could tell Tatsuki was really taking all this hard. I feel bad for her, jerks like him don't deserve anything, I swear. They think just because they have money, they can do and get anything they want." Rukia raised an eyebrow, which went unnoticed by her friend. SHe wanted to point out how hypocritcal she sounded, jerks were the only thing Orihime had known for a while, but she refrained herself. It wasn't important.

"I couldn't do that. And even if I wanted to, there's no way my brother would do something that stupid." Rukia replied, referring to her brother's control over the court system; he was after all, The Judge Kuchiki. Feared by many. loved my many less.

"It was just a thought..." Orihime lightly said, returning her attention to her food.

Rukia noticed the hurt in her friend's voice and didn't really feel like taking back anything she had said just to make her happy again. That's why she was extremely happy when a loud voice came from behind her.

"Rukia!" She looked behind her, a smile growing on her face as she saw Renji.

"Renji!" She announced and got up to give him a hug. "Hey, what's up? Where have you been?" She asked, her face still stuffed into his long red hair.

Renji took a step back and smiled down at her then walked to the other side of the table, both sat down across from each other.

He sighed. "I just got back from court. You hear about Ichigo?" He asked, sliding his Academy issued uniform jacket off, wrinkles visibly stuck out everywhere. "Yeah," Rukia answered. "Orihime just told me all about it." That's when Rukia remembered her friend and wondered why she was so quiet, she looked to her side and Inoue was gone. She glanced around the room and quickly caught site of her talking to some guy across the room. Rukia smiled, hoping it was the guy from last night and not some other random new guy.

"Yeah, well, He's in some deep shit. I had to go and testify. I didn't want to, but what can you do, you know? Oh, yeah, your brother was the judge."

"yeah, he was telling me about it earlier, I just didn't really listen. So what's the punishment for whatever henious crime he commited?" Rukia asked, smirking; this Ichigo guy wasn't her friend, he could go to prison and she still wouldn't give a damn.

She noticed how her closest guy friend kept toying with his pocket. She could tell he was just itching for a smoke; that's where he kept his ciggarettes.

"Since he's under eighteen, their just gonna make him do a shitload of work hours. Then along with that, he somehow has to choke up a couple thousand. I don't think his dad is going to pay for that."

"Seriously?" Rukia asked, wondering what her brother would do if she got into that much trouble. Probably send her off to boot camp or even worse, maybe some public school. eww. scary.

Renji saw her little spasm and chuckled. "You wanna go outside? It's a little too stuffy in here." Although, she knew it was just an excuse to smoke, she agreed. Maybe a little nicotine could calm her own nerves.

* * *

"Fuck." Ichigo cussed, his head in his hands. He didn't know what he was going to do. All he knew was that his life was over, at least his social one was. He would have to get a job. No more parties. No more blowing money on listless things. It would take him - he paused and counted on his fingers- five years to pay it all, that's if he worked at his father's clinic. He probably wouldn't even be able to handle that. With college which he would have to get a scholarship for; he'd have to actually try to get good grades himself.

God, he had no idea what to do. His dad was going to kill him. He was surprised he was still alive even now. He was thankful they had made him sit in a small room all by himself, if he was in the same room with his father, there'd be no chance of survival.

He had to think about what he was going to do. About the consequences of his actions, that's what the people had told him when they had pushed him into this room that suddenly felt all too small. Since when was he claustriphobic?

Sure, he had done some messed up stuff before, but nothing to this extent. Damage upon damage, he had done and he had to pay for it all. All of it. He was so, so, so screwed. So screwed.

* * *

"Hey, Rukia! Why don't you wear this to the party?" Orihime asked the next day. They were in Rukia' s huge, fully furnished room digging through mounds of clothes, looking for the right outfits to wear to the party that night.

"Ew, hell no!" Rukia laughed at the shiny, metallic mini dress her friend had held up.

Orihime sighed, throwing the material down on the floor. "Well then what the hell are you going to wear? I swear, you don't want to wear any of these clothes... and they're all yours, too!"

"I can't help it, how am I going to meet a guy wearing one of these?" Rukia asked, showcasing a high necked sweater.

"You're right, that is rather, um, modestly fashionable." Rukia threw the ugly peice of clothing at her friend who was laughing uncontrollable. The black haired beauty looked on, a mirthful smile on her face. She was trying hard not to laugh.

"Whew, that was funny." Orihime concluded, using the bed for support as she stood up. "Oh, I've got an idea! Give me your phone!"

"What's wrong with your phone?"

"Oh, fine, whatever." Inoue lifted a hand and was about to reach into her cleavage when Rukia stopped her.

"Ew! I so don't need to see that! Here, here's my cell." The voluptous girl had smug expression on as she held her hand out for Rukia to hand her the phone. "I swear, you are, like, Satan's wife. So evil." Rukia shuddered and Orihime held back a laugh, trying to look regal and evil.

"Rangiku's speed dial is 69, right?" This earned a suddenly happy nod from Rukia.

"Dude, you could've told me you were calling her! I so wouldn't of had to risk my virginal eyes from seeing anything, then!" Rukia flopped down on the bed next to where Orihime was sitting, excited to hear from her friend who went to another private school on the other side of town.

"Hello?" Their friend's silky voice came out through the ear peice, the setting was on Speaker.

"Hey!" Both girls shouted into the phone.

A laugh elicited from the other side, but when she talked her voice had become pouty "Aww, you guys aren't having a slumber party without me, are you?" Rukia and Orihime both knew she was kidding.

"Not unless you drag your ass over here ASAP! And bring some clothes for Ruki-chan! She doesn't have shit to where to the party tonight, which of course, you are invited!" Orihime yelled into the phone, with Rukia laughing in the back ground.

"Party?! I'll be over there in a second, but you two better supply some 'appetizers' before we go, you both know how much i like to sugar coat my parties!" The two girls laughed and exchanged looks. It was a good thing Byakuya wasn't home; he wouldn't be too happy about them raiding his liquor store.

"Okay, cool! Hurry up! We'll start making some 'refreshments!'" Rukia put emphasis on 'refreshments', knowing they would make some delicious, alcoholic concoction. It was the funnest part in a slumber part, besides the pillow fights, of course.

Ignoring the heaps of expensive clothes that surrounded them, the two girls while laughing stumbled down the stairs. Jeesh. She hadn't even had a drink, yet. How was she /going to be at the party tonight? Scary. She normally didn't go to big parties, they were just filled with superficial snobs stuck up and obsessed with themselves. She usually opted for some home drinking with her closest friends. It was the best. You could trust yourself to just let loose and go crazy, there were no boundaries with your friends. But tonight would be different; she wanted to see what was so cool about house parties.

?!

"Hey, Girls! I'm Here!" The door was swung open, revealing their friend with two suitcases at her feet, most likely filled with the frilliest, most priceless outfits ever.

"Rangiku!!" Rukia shouted, leaving the blender half filled to run out to greet Matsumoto. Orihime was doing the same, coming from the small pantry where all the liqour was kept. She had a bottle of vodka in one hand, a bottle of tiquela in the other. A squeel came from her mouth and, thankfully, she put the two high-priced bottles down before running over to hug their friend.

"Well, well, It seems you two have already started the party." She commented, looking around airily.

"It's your fault for not getting here earlier!" Rukia pointed out, turning around to go back into the kitchen. "But, if you're done throwing your fit, I made you're favorite drink!"

A smile appeared on Matsumoto's face. "Aww, now, that's what i'm talking about!" She flitted into the kitchen, Orihime following right after with the two bottles back in her hands.

?!

"Shit, it's eight. We gotta get going." Orihime looked down at the LDS screen on her phone, the numbers shining up at her. She placed her empty cocktail glass down on the counter, glancing at her two friends who were following suit.

Rukia had chosen a cute black mini skirt with an empire waist tank top. Her hair lay in layers, some in front of her eyes. All in all, it made a very cute ensemble. Rangiku had chosen a tube dress, it fit her every curve, giving her a sultry, sexy look. Then, Orihime looked down at herself, she had chosen a blue halter, with a white miniskirt. She thought it accented her hair clips rather nicely.

"hey, you guys, how are we going to get there?" Rukia stumbled down the first few stairs leading to the driveway, laughing.

"I'll drive!" Matsumoto happily cried.

Although, Orihime was in no better shape, she still felt they needed a person who was still at least a litle bit sober to make their decisions. Which was definetly not her or the other two.

"guys, lets just not go." Rukia said, a dejected look on her face.

"Hell no! I came for a party and I won't leave without a party!" Protested Rangiku. Then, the two girls looked at Orihime, hoping she would made the final decision. She really wanted to go, she had told Uryu she would go... then she got an idea.

"Just wait guys! I know who can take us!"

?!

"So, Ishida, you got the hots for Orihime?" Matsumoto slurred from the back seat, causing both her and Rukia to errupt in laughter. Orihime blushed and looked at Ishida who was looking at the road but still rigid and red with embarrasment. The orange haired girl so wished she could've just left her two friends, this drive would be much more enjoyable without the two drunks making fun of them every five seconds.

"No, seriously, you better treat her right!" laughter. "If you don't I swear... I ... I-swear, wait, what was I saying?" More laughter.

"Okay, here we are." Ishida said with more relief than excitement in his voice. He opened his car door, quickly shutting it. Inoue turned around to face her friends. "You guys!" she hissed, but was cut off when her door was opened.

"Aww, look at that!" Rukia crooned, "I want that! Ishida, do you have a brother?"

An uncomfortable look crossed Ishida's face as he closed the door for Orihime. Rangiku practically cackled. "No, Do you have kids?" She laughed at it, thinking it was clever.

Rukia's laughter stopped. "Huh? Why would you care if he had kids?"

"No fucking idea." Matsumoto laughed some more, opening her own door and klutzily stepped out, Rukia slid over the seat and did the same.

Orihime and Ishida lead in the front, two drunk, cackling girls following after.

* * *

Byakuya sighed stressfully, he had no idea what to do. He knew what was right and he knew what his gut wanted him to do. To just send the kid to juvie for a year or two was what was right, but he saw the guilt on his face, and wanted to just let him off easy. Make him pay a few fines and do some comunity service and he'd be free, that's what he wanted to do.

He looked through the kid's files. No other significant law official crimes had been commited, he almost had a clean record. He went to his sister's school, good grades, a few bad raps for school reasons; nothing that stood out too much. He came from a good family. His dad was Byakuya's doctor, he knew first hand that he was a good man.

It seemed the easist route would be to just talk to him one-on-one, hear his side of the story. He had certainly heard the girl's side, said with many tears, many false emotions. He only hadn't hear the boy's, he had been quiet and guilt-striken. Byakuya figured he might talk better without an audience, without the girl stealing glares at him all the time.

?!

"Mr. Kurosaki, The Judge would like to speak with you." A woman wearing a nicely pressed outfit opened the door to which the room Ichigo was sitting in, motioning him to follow her.

Ichigo grudginly got up, this was it. He was dead. Shit, this was what people talked about when they said they were dying. All his good memories flashed through his mind; he began to think of things he wished he had gotten to do.

He took a deep breath, said one last prayer and entered the room. The thick door closed behind him, a loud click followed the low sound of it closing.

* * *

A/N: Hey, so how did u like this chap? The plot is still being layed out, next chapter and it will get thicker. Thanks to those three who reviewed! Please, review more! I want to know what you think! Even if you hate it, tell me! Thanks! Please, More reviews! If I reach five, I will worship the fifth! and I will love you all forever!

Muah! Love, AquaPurpleBubble


	3. Don't lie, I Don't Care For Them

A/N: Hey everyone!! I miss you guys. It's been like a week since I updated. Oh my god! How did I survive? How did you survive? Just Joking. I have moved locations to staying at a different place so I no longer have full control over the computer, but obviously, I still get to update! Yay. I hope you like this chapter, I am still setting things up but I think the plot will become clear this chapter. Thanks to all the reviewers of last chapter! You made my days. Thank you, all! Continue to review and I will rejoice and update... blah blah. You get it, just review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, the characters, or the song I use in the chapter. Or Ryuu, who belongs to -.StrawRabbi.-. Hehehehe. He's hers, not mine. Though I would like to steal him.. ha ha. He sounds kinda cute. ; ) So yeah. I just needed another character and I decided to steal him for a while, shhh.. don't tell her!!

**Prestigious Lies**

Chapter Three: Don't Lie, I Don't Care For Them

I caught you lying to yourself,  
Now everything is spinning round and around.  
Then standing still again,  
Well I'm a fool to watch but never say.  
Are you bothered by the choice you made?  
-Saosin (It's So Simple)

* * *

_'Shit. Are they going to send me to rehab? They can't actually think I'm an alcoholic or anything, can they? I mean it's not like they know my exact past. They could just be thinking it was a one time thing, an impulse... hopefully. Anything but rehab, anything.'_

These were the thoughts that raced through Kurosaki Ichigo's mind as he sat in front of the Judge Kuchiki.

Ichigo was nervous as hell, fiddling with his hands and bouncing his foot up and down. Then, he noticed his constantly moving foot and cursed himself. Shit. Now they were going to think he was a junkie.

It didn't help that the intimidating man just sat there calmly scribbling things down on papers in a file. It was as if he had forgotten Ichigo's presence.

Byakuya proved Ichigo wrong by straightening up and looking at him in the eye. Staring at him tranquilly, seeming as if he was studying him.

"You may speak."

Ichigo didn't mean to sound insolent or disrespectful. He had realized that he should be kissing this man's ass, he just couldn't help it. It was like he had set himself in one mode and he couldn't turn it off. "What do you want me to say?"

Byakuya shrugged his squared shoulders. "Don't you want to defend yourself?"

The orange haired delinquent tried to hide his surprise. He had thought his life was over and now he was getting a second chance? He had to take it. But what was he supposed to say? Everything he had been accused of had been the truth.

Ichigo sat up in his chair, he might as well as try to be respectful even if he didn't have a singly excuse for what he did.

"I was under the influence," he began.

"Obviously," Byakuya interjected.

Ichigo resisted the urge to glare at him and instead continued on.. "And then-" Then what? He trashed a whole neighborhood? Ichigo wanted to tell the truth and defend himself but he didn't want to get all emotional or touchy, he'd save that for Tatsuki.

"And then?" The judge prodded.

"And then I trashed the neighborhood." Why sugarcoat it? It was what had really happened and Ichigo really wasn't into thinking of some lame alibi or something. Byakuya nodded his head and bent over to add something else to whatever he had written in the file.

"Why?" Was all he asked after he had finished writing.

"Why what?" Ichigo just had to be difficult.

"Why did you do it?"

A few moments passed as Ichigo thought it over. Once again, he didn't want to get all dramatic and shit about Tatsuki but then again, it was her house he house he had destroyed, too. Finally he just decided on a simple answer that seemed to say it all without too much or too little emotion. "I was fucked up."

* * *

_'hmm... where the hell is Rangiku? Never mind, where the hell am I? She was here just a second ago, okay, so maybe it was more like 30 minutes ago, but still. It's not like this house is that big, she has to be somewhere in here... Then why can't I find her? And why am I lost? Aw... shit. I'm lost. Oooh. There's a closet. It looks warm and cozy, I should just pop in there for a bit, just to rest up so I can look again later...' _

These were the thoughts that passed through Rukia's slow, addled brain as she stumbled around the upper floor of the house. She somehow managed to get to the closet without falling once; she was proud. Rukia's hands turned clumsily on the door knob and it took her a few tries before she got it open.

It was darker than she had imagined and she accidentally lost her footing and tripped into the closet. "Umph!" She thankfully landed on something soft-ish only it had sharp edges that poked out... and it also seemed to move.

"Are you okay?" A deep voice from the darkness asked.

"Whoa, I never knew my conscious was a guy." Rukia giggled to herself as the door somehow shut behind her.

A different voice laughed and commented, "Ha, What's she on?"

"Hmm... I can only have one conscious, not two..." Rukia said in a serious tone after hearing the other voice. After taking a few moments to think about it, Rukia had come up with a believable reason for the voices. "Oh! I get it! This is that one dream! This is my favorite, the threesome in a closet... fun"

"Actually that would be a foursome." Yet another voice piped up from somewhere in the compact closet.

"Really?" Rukia sounded interested. "Well, that's a new experience. My imagination has only gone to a threesome. Well, how should we do this? In my dreams, we never spend this much time on chit-chat... you know?"

Nervous chuckles could be heard.

"Hello? Guys... wow, you guys are boring."

More nervous chuckles and soon a sweet smelling smoke filled the air. "What the hell? The guys are never getting stoned in my dreams." Rukia pointed out.

"Um, are you Rukia?" One of the voices asked.

"God, do we have to introduce ourselves? I mean-" She was cut off, thankfully.

"Rukia, uh, I don't know how to say this, but, this isn't a dream..." The voice sounded like it was trying to let her down easily or something.

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked the dark tentatively.

"I mean, you are obviously on something. Possibly lots of things... but you are in a closet and you are not dreaming." It was said like he was talking to a little kid.

"But... then why is everything kinda meltyish?" Rukia asked.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Said one of the other voices.

"Shut up!" The main one said. "What have you been drinking? Did anyone give you anything... suspicious?"

Rukia thought about it, "Uh, no. Just a bunch of these tasty, colorful things in little glasses that were being passed around."

A few snickers. Rukia began to regret her drunken drinking. "Why? What was I drinking?"

Someone cleared their throat, obviously trying hard not to laugh. "Uh, nothing." They said suspiciously. "But, the point is," laugh. "you are definitely not dreaming."

"So, you guys are real people? And you now know about my fantasies?"

The closet almost exploded with laughter. "Yep."

"Shit. Who are you?" Everything suddenly seemed real, there was no fuzzy lining on everything like there had been before she had crashed into this damned closet.

"Hisagi." Said the one who she heard last, now that she thought about it, it did sound like him,

"Ashido." Said the nice one who seemed to help her figure all this out.

"Ryuu." The name came from above her and she finally realized she was practically laying in his lap.

"Hi, Ryuu. I've never heard of you. Do you go to our school?" Rukia asked, still laying there.

"Uh, no. I'm friends with the person who's throwing the party." The guy answered, surprisingly not sounding awkward or uncomfortable with Rukia laying there. But then again, it could of just been the pot. Who knew? It was a party, things happen.

"Cool, so what were you guys doing before I came in here?" Rukia asked suggestively.

"Not what you think, or anything that you fantasize about." Hisagi said then snickered. Rukia turned red, god, had she really said all that out loud?

"Uh... Well, you guys know that I was on something. It's not like I knew what I was saying." Rukia sat up and bumped against the door, this space really was tiny.

"Uh-huh."

"Shut-up!" Rukia huffed.

"We won't tell, or at least I won't..." The new guy, Ryuu, cautioned.

"Okay, whatever." Rukia tried to act nonchalant.

They all snickered then tried to hand her something. She looked down at the slightly burning roach in one of the guys hands. It was a miracle none of them had burned anything with the tight space and all.

Rukia hesitated then took it up and took a hit, what was one more drug? She sighed as the smoke filled her mouth and she blew it out, handing it back to one of the guys. Now that she was sitting up, she really wasn't sure of their locations anymore.

Suddenly the door opened, flooding the closet with bright light. The four people all squinted their already half lidded eyes, glaring at the light. Rukia was happy when she noticed the light was blocked by a curvy body. "Rangiku!" She shouted in glee, jumping up to her feet only to stumble back again. She'd have to remember to take it easy.

"Whoa, What's going on in here?" Rangiku asked, a hand on her hip looking down at the three boys sitting in the closet and a completely disoriented Rukia. She had a mirthful look on her face yet she also was trying to look sly.

"Not much," Replied one of the guys, mellow as ever.

"Wow, you guys are boring. Come on, Rukia, were leaving."

"Okey dokey. Bye- Bye," She sing-songed as Rangiku pulled her away. Hisagi, Ashido, and Ryuu shook their heads, wow, Rukia was something else.

* * *

Ichigo was still alive, something he was still doubting would last. All of his friends who had told him what a cold-ass Byakuya was must have been prejudiced or something, because for some odd reason, he was going easy on Ichigo. Like, when he had said what his reason for trashing everything was, he had only nodded his head like he had to everything else Ichigo had told him. It was like nothing got to the guy.

"Well, as far as I can tell, you didn't do too much damage. Nothing that can't be undone. The only sentence I will give you is to work for the families, none of them were happy with the extent of damage. And you have a sum of 2157800 yen (about 20000 dollars)."

"Shit." Ichigo breathed, that was a lot of money. He then realized his slip up of language and covered his mouth, Byakuya only glared back.

"Well, this day has run sufficiently late. You are now free to go home, your father should be waiting in the lounge." Byakuya said, shuffling all his papers together and stacking them in a briefcase, showing Ichigo the door.

Great, his dad was waiting for him. Isshin wasn't a really violent man, just playfully violent. But whenever Ichigo was in big trouble, then the real violence came out, and Ichigo wasn't too excited to go home with it.

* * *

"Ouch." Rukia held her throbbing head, why the hell had she gone to that party last night? She hadn't even found a guy she liked let alone one to go out with. Well, at least, that's what she thought. Sadly, most of the events of last night weren't very clear. She could remember getting there but after that... things were kinda hazy. Although, she thought she could remember having a good time. See? She must not of been that drunk, but her aching body told her otherwise.

Rukia took a deep breath to calm her heaving stomach and slowly made her way down the stairs where she was sure Byakuya was seated with a newspaper and his mug of coffee, just like every other morning. Sure enough, once Rukia turned from the main hall to the dining room, Byakuya greeted her from her his head seat at the table.

She tried to hide her queasiness, but his eagle-like senses had most likely already detected it and made a mental note not to leave her home again on Saturday nights. Aw, no more parties. But then again, maybe that was the best thing.

"So, what did you do last night?" Byakuya asked casually as Rukia poured herself a cup of coffee. She trusted her stomach enough to sip at it. She then pulled out a chair and sat catty-corner to her brother.

"Orihime and I went out to a friend's get together where I thought I might meet someone." Rukia informed him, leaving out Rangiku and the party; the two things he hated.

"Did you?"

"Did I what?" Rukia asked, catching herself mid space out and looking up from the mystifying deeps of her coffee.

"Did you meet someone?" Byakuya asked, clearly not happy with her current actions.

"Oh, no, No one there caught my eye." Rukia lied, but what else was she supposed to say? That she got too shit-faced and didn't remember one single thing? Byakuya would've killed her on the spot. So she decided what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"That's too bad..." Byakuya commented, looking back at the article he was reading.

"Okay, well, I'm just gonna go back up to my room and rest some more, I had a hard week." Rukia told him, scooting her chair back and getting up. She pointed her hand that was holding the coffee towards her room on the second level and he glanced up long enough to nod his head.

* * *

A thought had been bugging Byakuya. All night, and into the morning. He thought about it through his morning jog (he has to keep fit somehow. LOL), his morning coffee and even when he was talking to Rukia. In fact, it was when he was talking with Rukia that he made up his mind.

The young rascal, Kurosaki Ichigo, who's case he was on was in deep trouble. Maybe not to the trailer-park trash (a/n: not intended to offend anyone) but to the rich, flawless people here, it was a pretty big no-no. Small at that, but still big enough to make a splash.

Although his family was rich, Ichigo was not. It was most likely a no that his dad would pay for the whole fine for him and he had a life of... partying. Okay, so maybe Byakuya was was so desperate to get Rukia a date that he no longer cared who the hell the bastard was. And the poor bastard of subject just happened to be Kurosaki Ichigo, a young man who, found in a debacle of sorts, needed money. A rich judge also just happened to be in need of a certain service and was willing to pay to get it. Now that he knew Rukia was still opposite sex-less, he was certain of his next actions.

Byakuya swallowed the last bit of coffee and folded the newspaper back up, getting up himself. He then made his way to his office and sat down, reaching for his briefcase. He popped it open and grabbed Ichigo's files, reading them and finding his phone number.

The judge then picked up his personal phone and punched in the numbers. He leaned back as the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Hello. May I speak with a Kurosaki Ichigo?" The voice had sounded like the kid's, he just had to be sure.

"Uh, This is him." Byakuya could hear the unsureness in his voice. He could guess that it wasn't often that he got calls asking for him so formally.

"This is Kuchiki Byakuya, your judge. I have a proposition for you."

"Okay, go on." Ichigo didn't know what to say.

"You are in need of money and I am in need of a date." Byakuya failed to catch his mistake, although Ichigo did.

"Whoa! Sorry, I'm not like that..."

It took a few moments for Byakuya to register what he had just said. "Oh, no! Not me, my sister." He quickly corrected himself.

"If she's your sister, don't you think she might be a little too old for me?" Ichigo wasn't trying to sound cocky or anything, he just had to clarify things.

"Actually, I think she's around your age... you said you were 17, right? She's a month away from turning 17..,"

"Oh, okay, so what your saying is, you're going to pay off my debt if I date your sister?" Ichigo found it hard to believe. What type of girl had to pay a guy to date her? She couldn't be that ugly.

"Yes, That is what I am saying." Byakuya stated.

"Why can't she just get a date on her own?" Ichigo realized he really should be grateful this guy was going to pay for his fine, all of it, he just couldn't shake the idea that someone needed to be payed to date someone else.

"It's not important, I just need to know whether or not you are in."

Ichigo thought it over, he would be stupid to say no, but was it smart to get involved in this? Isn't this the type of shit that happens in all of those chick flicks where the girls ends up crying, still boy friendless? But in the end, did it really matter? He was getting a big sum of money payed off, did he really have room to complain?

"Yes. I'll do it." Ichigo said certainly.

* * *

A/N: There you go. I hope it was okay. Ish. There's the plot for you. Please, review! You know you want to!! If I get eleven reviews, I shall worship you til the end of time. Oh, and true to my word. Oh, Ericd, I worship thou!! Okay, read and review! Thank you! Muah! Love, AquaPurpleBubble


	4. How Do I Know Your For Real?

A/N: Hello guys, I'm sorry it's been so long, but here I am. True to my word, Oh zebrs13, I worship thou. Even if you didn't actually sign it or anything, I appreciate all reviews. Thanks. And Thanks to all my other reviewers, I thank you all with all my heart (okay, dramatic, much? :B).

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, the characters or the song I use.

**Prestigious Lies  
Chapter Four: How Do I know Your For Real?**

**  
**Money Can't Buy Happiness  
Man I Think The Opposite  
If I Had Just One Chance  
I'd Buy Romance

-Cute Is What We Aim For (Marriage To Millions)

**(Monday, At School. The weekend after the Big Party and the Ichigo and Byakuya Treaty)**

"Dude, there you go." Hisagi paused in the middle of the crowded hall, one hand pulling Ichigo back and the other pointing towards something at the other end.

"What?" Ichigo asked, trying to free his arm from his friend.

"There she is," Hisagi said again, referring to Ichigo's earlier questions about Kuchiki Rukia.

"Huh? Where?" Ichigo yanked his arm from his friend's grasp, and tried to discreetly look the way his friend had pointed; it wasn't easy, the halls were literally a bee hive. Filled with different discussions and gossip, queen bees, worker bees, the whole works.

Hisagi smirked at his friend, who looked at him and he immediately shook off his interest. Before Ichigo could make up an excuse or anything, Hisagi said, "I thought you were just curious…"

Ichigo looked away, avoiding eye contact. "I was or I am."

"You seem to be a lot more than just curious."

"Okay, fine, just show me which one is her."

"Fine, fine," Hisagi stopped smirking at Ichigo to look back to where Rukia had just been only to see she had left. He looked around through the passing students; finally he spotted a headful of black hair. "Why did you want to know who she was, again?" Hisagi asked before he showed Ichigo.

"I just didn't know who she was," Ichigo quickly said to cover up any loose ends.

"Oh, okay," Hisagi said in a non-believing voice. "She's over there." He pointed to his left. "The one with the black hair."

Ichigo looked to his friend's side and saw a girl with short hair standing next to the girl his friend Ishida was seeing. She was standing with her back facing him, so he didn't get a very good look at her.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Hisagi suggested.

Ichigo looked at his tattooed friend, slightly doubtful. "Nah, I think I'll talk to her later. Come on." He began to walk forward.

"I don't think so; you might as well as talk to her now. I mean, why not?" His friend stayed rooted to his spot on the cheap linoleum floor. "You afraid she's gonna reject you?" He teased. "Trust me, she's cool."

Ichigo eyed him warily, "And how do you know this?"

"Dude, parties were invented for a reason,"

"And the reason is…" He prompted.

"To socialize, duh."

Ichigo didn't immediately go towards the girl yet he didn't really run away, he was thinking. If she partied, and with Hisagi at that, she must not be the ugly loner he thought she was. And she really didn't look too bad from behind.

"Whatever," He said, beginning to make his way towards her. He could imagine a satisfied smirk on his friend's face; he probably thought that he was so brilliant for getting him to go to her.

He got to her to see she was engaged in a conversation with Inoue, Ishida's girl; they were standing by what Ichigo assumed was Inoue's locker.

He didn't mean to eavesdrop but he couldn't help but catch snippets of their conversation.

"So, you didn't meet anyone?" Ichigo cocked his head towards them, trying to catch it without really seeming obvious.

He heard the black haired girl sigh, "I don't think so."

"What the hell does that mean?" The Orange haired girl asked, digging around in her back pack for something or other.

"It means I don't know."

Inoue exhaled loudly, picking her head back out of her bag and she was about to say something else and close her locker when Ichigo realized maybe their conversation was a little too personal for him to be listening. Without much more thought, he tapped the girl on the shoulder.

Another sigh could be heard, "Not now, Renji."

Ichigo returned his arm to his side, sort of surprised. She knew Renji? The Rukia girl turned around to face him and a look of shock immediately registered on both of the teens' faces.

"Midget?" Ichigo let it slip before he could think about it; that was what he always called her. Of course, he had never had the intentions he had now.

The girl's wide violet eyes soon narrowed. "Fuck off." She spit before walking off. Inoue followed close behind after closing her locker; she avoided Ichigo's eyes.

Ichigo sighed stressfully. Great, how was he supposed to woo the one girl he had always given reason to hate? He soon felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked around to see Hisagi with Ashido behind him.

Ashido shook his head sadly. "Sorry, dude, but that was cold."

Ichigo glared at both of his friends before once again shaking off his friends hand, he walked off to his class. He had to figure out what he was going to do about this.

Once back in his classroom, he moved through the desks until plopping down in his own seat. He placed his elbow on the desk and rested his head in his hand, closing his eyes to think.

Over the phone, Byakuya had told Ichigo that Rukia probably wouldn't be easy to get close to. At the time, he had gotten cocky and dismissed the cautioning, thinking it would be just as easy as flirting with any of the other girls.

Ichigo still didn't really understand the deal. He just couldn't get the idea that an elite judge was really going to pay him to date someone, his sister at that. It was messed up on many levels, but it really didn't matter since he was going to get his debt payed off.

Byakuya had told Ishiin that Ichigo was doing work hours when really he wasn't and he also was under the impression that Ichigo was staying after school and making up his grades that had gone down. Really, none of that was true. None of it. Ichigo really was just hanging out with his friends just like usual, only they couldn't go over to his house, of course. Naturally, they didn't know about the whole deal. Byakuya had made several things clear using threats; secrecy and he couldn't do anything to or hurt Rukia in any way.

So while he couldn't tell his friends the truth, he had just made up some story about hearing something about her and he didn't know who she was. His friends had all started laughing as if in on an inside joke. Ichigo had laughed along with them, maybe if they thought he knew there would be less questions asked, although he really had no idea in hell what they were laughing about and felt left out. Sure enough, his friends had bought it like the stupid idiots they were and now here he was. He just hadn't expected their first meeting to have already occurred; he thought he was going to get a clean slate to write all over.

But as that was not the deal, he would now have to try his hardest to get up to what was asked of him. Byakuya had said to go out with her, hug her, hold her hand (but nothing beyond that), hang out with 

her, and be seen with her. He had said he could do it for a while or until she got popular, to show her off and maybe he could make her dump him in some way and there would then be more boys who were interested in her waiting on her. Ichigo had nodded his head like the stupid delinquent he was even though he was totally against the whole idea.

So basically, he just had to make her popular in a way, Byakuya had said nothing about making her fall in love with him, although, Ichigo could tell that was also desired. Ichigo wasn't sure about the whole thing. But for 500 dollars a date, who could complain? He might as well work in a host club.

Ichigo took one more deep breath and looked up; most of the class was back in their seats, the remainder of the students was slowly ambling in. He ran a hand through his hair and made up his mind to try again. He'd have to wipe off the slate himself and prove he was better than just an ordinary jerk to her. At lunch he would do something to catch her attention; whether it be bugging her by sitting with her or singing to her some lame song (that was most likely not going to happen), he was going to get her attention.

'**Lunch- Cool People a.k.a not involved in a major clique table'**

"Hey, there's your boyfriend again." Orihime nodded behind Rukia's head in the lunchroom as Ichigo came up behind her.

Rukia looked at her friend weirdly before putting her glass of coke down on the table and hesitantly looking back. Her eyes immediately narrowed.

"What do you want?" She asked in a bored tone as she turned her attention back to her glass of soda and made a design in the condensation.

"Am I not allowed to talk to you?" He asked innocently as he sat down next to her, although still angled to where he was looking at her.

"No." She said blankly looking at him in the eye.

"Okay, I guess I deserved that." He said looking down in a manner that would make any normal girl feel bad and want to comfort him but did nothing to Rukia.

"Your damn right you did." She said, and then turned back to Orihime. "So what did you and Ishida do last night?" She struck the conversation right back up as if Ichigo wasn't sitting right there.

Before Inoue could respond Ichigo interjected again. "Look, I'm sorry for making fun of you all those times." He paused to see what her reaction was; it was impatient. "Can we just start over?"

"Fine, as long as you get the hell l away from me."

"Fair enough," He said, standing up from his chair. "But this doesn't end here." He added before going back to his 'jock' table.

Rukia watched him leave, her mask was down and her surprise was actually showing. She turned to Orihime. "What was that about? Didn't he just get dumped?"

Orihime nodded her head just as stumped as Rukia. She only shrugged her shoulders then said, "He's got to know it's not good for his rep. I mean, he came over here at lunch, like I bet the whole school is talking about this now. "

Rukia rolled her eyes at her friend's dramatic theories.

"Oh! I wonder if that's why he and Tatsuki broke up. Rukia, do you realize what that would mean? I mean, Kurosaki…"

Rukia quickly glared at her friend and told her to quiet down. "Hello? You just said we were in lunch; you don't want other people to hear that. Pretty soon rumors will start to go around if you don't shut up."

"Sorry," Inoue said not so much as sorry as mad now. "I didn't mean to talk so loud."

Rukia realized she had hurt Inoue's feelings and set to put them back to normal. "It's okay, really. I doubt anyone heard… So, you were saying about Ishida?" She knew that would perk her right back up and sure enough, it did.

'**Jock Table'**

"So what's the deal on Rukia?" Renji asked Ichigo with a hint of warning in his voice.

Ichigo took a bit of his California Roll and shrugged his shoulders.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Renji asked trying to look Ichigo in the eye.

"I just want to get to know her better." Ichigo answered simply.

"Uh-huh. Just like you got to know Tatsuki better?"

Ichigo finally looked Renji in the eye to glare at him. "No. I mean just like friends."

Renji backed down first and poked at his food. "You just got out of a relationship last week; you think it's smart to go around chasing another girl already?"

"I'm not gonna go chasing her around. I just want to be her friend." Ichigo was finding himself getting defensive.

"You think that's what everyone else is going to think too?"

"Who gives a shit what everyone else thinks?" Ichigo stuffed the last piece of sushi into his mouth .

"Look, I'm not only trying to help you but I also don't want Rukia to get hurt. She could do without all the drama that comes with you."

"I know what I'm doing. But thanks, anyway."

Renji shook his head as he watched his stubborn friend walk away.

'**Prep Girl Table'**

"What the hell is that bitch doing with Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked to no one in particular. "It's like she's been all over him today. During break and then now." She was clearly upset by it all.

"I thought you dumped him?" One of her clones asked.

"I did." She clarified. "But I mean, girl code, right? You can't go after another girl's ex until after at least 2 weeks."

Her friends nodded their fake heads loyally.

"How about we go have a talk with her and that boob on a stick?" Tatsuki suggested as she got up; two of her closest friends followed right behind while the others knew better than to try to get up also.

"Hey, Kuchiki," Tatsuki announced her arrival at their table in a fake sweet voice.

"Hey, Tatsuki, "Orihime piped up, but was only met with a nod from Tatsuki.

Rukia smiled up at her, feeling above the fake transactions of politeness. "What is it that brings you over here?"

"Well, you know that Ichigo and I only broke up on Thursday, right?"

"Something like that." Rukia shrugged it off, annoying Tatsuki.

"Well, I think you should stay away from him." Tatsuki stated.

"I thought you dumped him."

"Well, you know how we are…of f and on all the time."

"Actually I don't know." Rukia answered, feeling indifferent.

"Whatever, I have to go." Tatsuki said before turning on her heel and leaving towards the courtyard.

"What was that about?" Orihime asked, confused.

Rukia shrugged her shoulders almost violently. She was mad, if it wasn't for that prick, Ichigo, she wouldn't be in this 'cat fight' with a girl she normally tolerated. She'd have to deal with him.

"Hey, Orihime, I gotta go. You can stay, though."

"Okay, see you later." Orihime took the hint and decided to go and find Ishida.

Rukia found Ichigo in the courtyard with his other idiot brained friends.

"Kurosaki, I need to talk to you." She said in a no nonsense voice.

Like normal immature boys, his friends all made hooting noises and other sound of the like.

Ichigo picked his half empty pack of cigarettes off of a bench and followed her. "What's up?" He asked with a smirk on his angular face.

She stopped walking a ways from his friends and turned towards him, looking up to glare at him.

"What?"

"Tell your girlfriend to back off of me." She said her anger showing in her voice. "It's your fault, anyways." She added.

"What are you talking about?" He seemed genuinely surprised.

"Because of you, you're girlfriend thinks I have the hots for you or something. After you left, she came up and practically threatened me. I just want you to fix what you fucked up. Okay? I don't want to have to be dragged into your soap opera drama, just tell her it was you, or whatever…" Rukia began to walk away.

"Wait a second, what? What do you mean, 'my girlfriend'?" He grabbed her arm to hold her back.

"I mean Tatsuki; she came up to me and told me to keep away from you, like I'd ever want to be near you."

Ichigo let go of her arm. "Why the hell would she care who I talked to?" He asked almost as if to himself.

"How the hell should I know?" Rukia just wanted the situation to be fixed.

"She's the one who dumped me."

"Obviously, she still has feelings for you. For some weird reason."

Ichigo nodded his head still looking distracted. He began to walk away. "Hey, Thanks. Sorry for all this. I'll take care of it. By the way, you really are short but that skirt does do justice…" He whistled low before jogging off towards the main hall.

Rukia looked down at her uniform skirt self- consciously. She looked behind to see if Ichigo's friends had seen, they had. She sighed again, just another thing she'd have to worry about. She looked down at her watch to see how much time they had left in the lunch hour, hopefully enough time to hang out with Renji. Thankfully, they had 15 minutes, if she found him now; they'd at least to talk.

She checked his favorite spot under the sacred tree in the back and found him sitting under it cross-legged looking out to the Big City with a smoke in his mouth.

Without announcing herself, she plopped down next to him and held her hand out to him for him to pass the cigarette. He gave it to her and she took a nice long hit, watching as the smoke came out of her mouth. Another inhale and she passed it back and leaned against his shoulder.

"You okay?" Renji's husky voice asked.

"I guess." She answered with no convection.

"What is it?"

"That ass hole Kurosaki."

Renji controlled his anger; he'd have to have a talk with Ichigo again later. That'd be fun.

"What'd he do?"

Rukia 's forehead creased. What had he done exactly? "I guess he just … ruffled me up." She couldn't think of any other work that described what she thought she felt. "I mean, it's like he's only trying to be nice because he has to or something… I don't know… we better get going if we're gonna make it to class on time." She stood up and held her hand out for him to get up also.

He took her hand and got up and dusted himself off. "Maybe you should just stay away from him." Renji offered; he didn't really trust him any more than she did and he was his friend.

"Yeah, maybe," She said, slightly distracted. But she didn't really want to do that, she wanted to figure out what every Ichigo had up his sleeve, or if he even had something up his sleeve.

Renji watched her as they walked back, he could tell she was still thinking about it all and it worried him to think she might get caught in his web of lies. He could be a charmer but that was only on the outside. But for now, he'd just let her do what she felt she should do, but if she asked him for help he would probably try to help her as best as he could.

A/N: What did you guys think? Did you like it? Tell me... I'm not sure, myself. I was kind of iffy on it. I felt that something had changed… do the characters seem at all different? Please tell me what you think, I would greatly appreciate it! If I get 16 reviews, I will worship the sixteenth reviewer and throw in a surprise. And love them forever and ever (that goes for all of my reviewers too, though). Thank you, I hope you review. I love you guys. Muah. Love, AquaPurpleBubble


	5. I Should Like You Why?

A/N: Hey guys! Long time no see, huh? I guess it's my fault and I'm sorry, please forgive me! (sob sob sobbity sob sob). But yeah, honestly please forgive me for not updating in like .... eeek. half a year? I'm ashamed, But I hope you guys like this chapter! I really do, please don't hate me and don't give up on me. I really don't plan on abandoning my stories, I'm just.. thinking that I'm busy i guess. but whatever, I hope you guys like this chapter.  
And thanks for all the reviews I got for last chapter, even though I asked for 16, I got a bunch more. But keeping to my word, I do worship thou, zebra13, i think once again! hahah. thanks, I have yet to think up a surprise for you, but I promise I will!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters, or the song, "Nothing Without You" by "Relient K" (great song by the way)

Let's Talk About The Way Things Were  
Let's Talk About The Way Things Should Be  
Think I'm Certain  
But, I'm Not So Sure  
If I'll Deliver What's Expected Of Me

-Nothing Without You  
By Relient K

* * *

I Should Like You Why?  
Chapter Five

Ichigo hurried back to the school, hoping he'd be able to catch Tatsuki so he could straighten things out before there was any more confusion.

He walked down the familiar hallways towards her locker where he guessed she'd be. It felt so weird knowing that just a week ago, he'd been coming this way for reasons totally different and now here he was walking this way to defend some other girl. That just goes to show you how you never, ever know what's going to happen.

A few people were in the hall, but otherwise, it was dead compared to the frenzy it would be as soon as the lunch break ended. The empty hallway allowed Ichigo to see Tatsuki at her locker before she saw him and also to give him a moment to go over what he was going to say. He planned to tell her that she should simply mind her own business, that she was the one who'd dumped him, but he'd also try not to bring up his suspicions about why she was bugging Rukia.

Right before he reached her locker, she looked up and saw him, shooting him a glare beore slamming her locker shut.

"Tatsuki..." He sighed in annoyance, heading over to blocker her path.

"What do you want, Ichigo?" She asked after realizing he wouldn't let her past until he said whatever it was he needed to.

Ichigo noted Tatsuki's reluctance to talk to him and stored it for later when thinking more about her ulterior motives.

"I just hear you've been hassling Rukia." He said getting straight to the point.

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow incredulously.

"Oh? Did your girlfriend come running to you because evil Tatsuki hurt her little feelings?" She asked snidely.

Ichigo thought that he could detect jealousy underneath her confident attitude.

"Okay, for one, she's not my girlfriend," He paused to glance back hearing foot steps nearing them. He continued when the small group of people passed. "For another, even if she was what business would that be of yours?"

Tatsuki didn't immediately say anything leading Ichigo to continue.

"Anyways, that's another conversation. Back to the point, I think it's really pathetic that your taking your little jealous issues out on Rukia. Especially when nothing is fucking going on between me and her. I would expect more of you, Tatsuki, don't you realize I don't give a shit what you think anymore?"

Tatsuki's eyes blazed angrily. "Who the hell do you think you are, telling me off?" Her voice had a bitter edge. "I didn't even do shit to that bitch. I don't know what she told you, but apparently you trust a girl you've only shown interest in for a fucking day more than a girl you'd been dating for the past few months." She calmed down and took a deep breath. "Whatever, I'm so over this." Tatsuki pushed past him.

"Get over it, Tatsuki. I see through whatever your trying to pull right now. Remember, you're the one who dumped me?" Ichigo called after her, she raised her middle finger at him in response.

"Fuck." He mumbled to himself when she had gotten far enough down the hallway. That didn't go as planned.

But, at least he had done what he'd set out to do, no matter how much he had also deviated from it. He'd gotten the point through to her, though he didn't quite feel confident that she would bide as he had asked. He did know that he could at least have a small amount of time to make some moves on Rukia. Some time before Tatsuki came back for revenge, if she was stupid enough to do so.

Just then the bell rang for school to start again and Ichigo walked back to his class, somewhat confused about his conversation with Tatsuki but trying to block it out with plans for the little Kuchiki.

* * *

It was after school and the most of the students had already cleared out of the school, only some still littered the halls in groups.

The small, raven haired teenager shut her locker and began waked towards the back exit where her driver would be waiting for her. Orihime was unsurprisingly off with Uryu on some date or something, so Rukia was alone today, though she didn't mind it. In fact, she almost enjoyed it. Her mind was nearly clear from all the confusion Ichigo had started earlier that day and she just wanted to go home.

Only, an arm snaking it's way around her shoulders clearly wanted to throw her mind back into a storm.

She jumped in surprise and let out a small yelp, automatically shaking the arm off.

"Oh. It's you." Rukia said dryly after seeing it was Ichigo. She promptly began to walk off again not giving him a second glance.

"Well don't sound too excited." Ichigo said, hurrying to catch up with her.

"I'm not."

"Well, couldn't you at least pretend to be?" Ichigo asked in a joking tone.

"What the hell do you want, Ichigo?" She stopped and turned towards him, sighing in exasperation.

"Geesh, what is it with girls and that expression today?" Ichigo asked the ceiling.

"Ichigo, I'm tired and just want to go home. Would you please get on with it?"

"Okay, okay." Ichigo heard the threatening tone in the girls voice and realized just how alike she and her brother were. "Just hold on here a minute, there's no reason for you to get your panties in a bunch."

She rolled her eyes, giving him an impatient look.

"I just wanted to know if you could hang out tonight."

"With you? I don't think so..." She turned around and began walking toward the exit again.

"Well, when do you think would be a good time to kick it?"

Rukia sighed again as she heard the voice and felt the arm across her shoulders again.

"How many times do you have to be rejected until you get the point that I don't want to hang out with you ever?" She lifted his arm off her shoulders and walked out the door, leaving him standing there in between the door and the building.

"Okay, then, Saturday sounds good for me, too!" He called out to her, then went back into the school building.

A group of underclassmen students stood off to the side. A few of the guys shook their heads in sympathy for him.

Ichigo smiled confidently. "She'll come around." He said, then quieted his voice to where only he could hear it. "I'll make her come around... I have to."

* * *

Rukia walked up to her room and threw her bag on her bed. She quickly shed her school uniform and put on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. She pulled her hair out of her face then got her bag and dug around in it until she found her cell phone.

With her phone in hand, she flopped on her bed. She dialed Rangiku's speed dial number and as it rung, glanced at her reflection coming back from the mirror propped on the dresser across from her bed. She looked tired and confused, which she was.

Rukia looked away from her reflection when her friend finally answered.

"Hey, Hun. What's wrong?" Her friend's silky voice already lifted a load from her back.

"How do you know somethings wrong?" Rukia asked, pining for a few more minutes to sort out what she was going to tell her friend.

"Don't try that with me, we both know somethings wrong and the only way we can talk about it is if you open that mouth of yours and tell me what your problem is."

"Do you remember Ichigo Kurosaki?" Rukia began, also knowing it was useless to try to beat around the bush.

"The really popular one who makes fun of you?" Rangiku asked.

"Yeah, that one."

"Well, what'd he do?"

"He's confusing me and I don't like it!" Rukia outbursted.

"Girl, just tell me what he did."

"... I kinda think that he likes me..." Rukia said more calmly this time.

Rangiku couldn't help but laugh. "Since when is there anything wrong with a guy liking you?"

"I guess never, but with him, it's just weird."

"And how is it weird?"

"Don't you think that it's at all odd that we hate each other for like ever and then he up-and-starts liking me or whatever? I mean we hardly ever talked and now he won't stop bugging me and asking me to hang out and all this other shit!."

"Rukia, I always said that boys are an odd species that we just have to tolerate, right?"

"Yeah," Rukia agreed.

"Well, this is just one of those situations that prove my theory to be right. You can't do anything about his feelings so you might as well as just manage your own and not worry about his."

"Okay... but, what about him just being dumped the other day?" Rukia asked about the other thing that had been confusing her.

"Huh? He was just dumped the other day?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Well, maybe you should try to slow things down then... wait, how do you even feel about him?"

"As of yet, I'm just confused and don't really like him." Rukia told her friend, then admitted, "Though, there's something about him that just... tempts me."

"Well, surprisingly, I don't have much to tell you. I can tell you that you should wait things out, and see if he's just playing with you or is serious, then decide what your feelings are, then ... just go from there."

"Okay... yeah... I guess waiting would be a good idea. It has, after all, only been a day that he's been confusing me."

"A day? He's only been flirting with you for a day and you call it an emergency?" Rangiku was surprised.

"Yeah," Rukia somewhat embarrassed. "But hey, I told you it was weird becuase he's been nothing but an ass to me before and then today he's like worshipping me."

"Honey, there ain't nothing wrong with a man worshipping you, but just think about what I said and get back to me later. I gotta go."

"Okay, thanks for everything. Love you." Rukia said.

"Of course, love you, too." Rangiku replied then hung up.

Rukia sighed and shut her phone. She flopped down on her bed and closed her eyes, thinking of calming things rather than Ichigo.

* * *

While Rukia disscussed Ichigo with Rangiku, Byakuya sat just one floor below her dialing a phone number for an entirely different reason.

"Hello?" The young man's voice on the phone answered.

Byakuya stretched back in his seat. "Yes, Mr. Kurosaki, hello."

Ichigo immediately became more business-like upon hearing the judge's voice.

"Kuchiki-sama. How are you?" He didn't quite know what to say.

"How about we just skip the small talk? What I want to know is how things are going with Rukia."

Ichigo cleared his throaght somewhat nervously.

"Well, um.... things are quite yet... going... yet..."

"What does that mean, exactly? They're either going or they're not."

The orange haired delinquent could hear the threat in Byakuya's voice.

"Well, Sir, things aren't going, then..." Ichigo said cautiously, then added, "Not yet, at least. I'm working on it."

"Let me just say this once, Mr. Kurosaki, I'm a man of business. When I say something, I mean it and I do NOT waste my money on nothing. Do you get where I'm going with this?"

"Y-y-yes, Sir." Ichigo stuttered.

"Good. Now the next time I call I want to hear results, or else..."

The line went dead leaving Ichigo to just stare at his phone in horror.

Did Byakuya really just call and threaten to not pay his debt unless he got some headway with the girl? Ichigo shook his head to rid it of the idea of having to pay it off on his own. Now he'd really have to step things up. Because for one, there was no way in this world Ichigo was going to pay it off himself. For another, Ichigo had no idea when the next time Byakuya would call would be. It could be tomorrow, or even some time next week, either way, he had to be somewhere with Rukia soon.

And another thing was, he was actually beginning to think she was cuter by the day.

A/N: so, hey, i was wondering, do you think there's too much dialogue and not enough descriptions of the scenes in which they take place? Like can you visualize where they are and stuff? cuz when i read it i think like so... whats going on in the background? but I don't know if you guys see it? so could you tell me if its okay or notish? I would appreciate it! I would also appreciate reviews, i know not much happened in this chap but i have the other chaps planned and this was only to set them up some more. So, please review, review, REVIEW! thanks. as always, Muah!

Love, AquaPurpleBubble


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